ort, for
in so far as I know none of us ever dies a natural death. Our females
would live for ever but for the fact that we tire of them and remove
them to make place for others. Issus alone of all is protected against
death. She has lived for countless ages."

"Would not the other Barsoomians live for ever but for the doctrine of
the voluntary pilgrimage which drags them to the bosom of Iss at or
before their thousandth year?" I asked him.

"I feel now that there is no doubt but that they are precisely the same
species of creature as the First Born, and I hope that I shall live to
fight for them in atonement of the sins I have committed against them
through the ignorance born of generations of false teaching."

As he ceased speaking a weird call rang out across the waters of Omean.
I had heard it at the same time the previous evening and knew that it
marked the ending of the day, when the men of Omean spread their silks
upon the deck of battleship and cruiser and fall into the dreamless
sleep of Mars.

Our guard entered to inspect us for the last time before the new day
broke upon the world above. His duty was soon performed and the heavy
door of our prison closed behind him--we were alone for the night.

I gave him time to return to his quarters, as Xodar said he probably
would do, then I sprang to the grated window and surveyed the nearby
waters. At a little distance from the island, a quarter of a mile
perhaps, lay a monster battleship, while between her and the shore were
a number of smaller cruisers and one-man scouts. Upon the battleship
alone was there a watch. I could see him plainly in the upper works of
the ship, and as I watched I saw him spread his sleeping silks upon the
tiny platform in which he was stationed. Soon he threw himself at full
length upon his couch. The discipline on Omean was lax indeed. But it
is not to be wondered at since no enemy guessed the existence upon
Barsoom of such a fleet, or even of the First Born, or the Sea of
Omean. Why indeed should they maintain a watch?

Presently I dropped to the floor again and talked with Xodar,
describing the various craft I had seen.

"There is one there," he said, "my personal property, built to carry
five men, that is the swiftest of the swift. If we can board her we
can at least make a memorable run for liberty," and then he went on to
describe to me the equipment of the boat; her engines, and all that
went to make her the flier